Category Archives: Road

A group of Kelly Cycle Coaching athletes braved 2C weather to race in the fog (and later in sunny conditions) in Wangaratta last weekend.

Michael Hale finished 4th in GC. He also broke clear with another rider and went on to win the 52km stage 3 road race.

Clement rode an aggressive tour and was constantly attacking and chasing dangerous moves. He was in a break in stage 3 and stayed clear to earn maximum KOM sprint points for the first climb of stage 3.

Munro rode a solid tour. He finished in the top 10 in stage 1, a 42km kermesse, held in foggy and cold conditions. He also time trialled well over the 18km windy course.

Monica had a great 2 day tour. She finished 6th in stage 1, which included a 2nd place in the intermediate sprint. She climbed strongly, coming in just behind the leaders up the steep hilltop finish of stage 2. She put in a solid performanace in stage 4, the 13km TT, held over the U19 State Championship course.

The coaches also had a go at racing. Bob raced B grade against guys that were just young pups, and managed to beat a few of them. He also borrowed George’s TT bike (thanks George), fully decked out with electronic shifting and rode faster than some of the A grade men.

Helen found herself demoted to C grade after attacking too early in stage 1 (in B grade), and getting dropped by the bunch. The friendly cycling rivalry between Bob and Helen was definitely revealed as Bob proudly announced that he had finally beaten his wife. Helen finished 7th in an uphill sprint finish of stage 2 and 3rd in stage 4, 13km time trial.

Grant Boydell raced with Monica Kelly in D grade. He rode well and finished in the bunch sprint in stage 1. Deciding to enjoy the serenity of stage 2 and 3, he rode at his own pace and finished both hilly courses well. There were several beats laid down in the lead up to the final stage, the time trial, about who was going to catch who. Grant looked very happy at the end, as he won his beat, and without any aero bars or fancy helmet.

Thanks to Julie and Allan Hale for being our management team during the two days. Their supply of cups of coffee, hot pasta, banana muffins, salad rolls and other yummy items, as well as the use of their winterbago made the weekend very enjoyable.

Congratulations to all the fantastic results at the Leongatha Junior Experience on the weekend. Most Kelly Cycle Coaching athletes were either on the podium after each race or finishing top 5 and top 10. This is a good indication of what is to come during the road season.

Well done to the following athletes for your results over the weekend:

Emily Dunk

Emily Wordie-Thompson

Emma Bilston (although unfortuately she had to stop racing due to an illness)

I haven’t done any training since my disappointing Track nationals in early Feb, and have enjoyed just riding and racing if I feel like it. I’ve actually started racing at DISC each Thursday night and really love the scratch and points racing. I wished I’d tried it years ago.

On the weekend, I raced the Tour de Flavours criterium, in Mansfield. I only raced because I received a call from the mayor of the town (my Dad!!!!) who suggested I should come and support the local community. I have never raced in my home town before and it was pretty cool to see so many local people I knew. I am glad the Mayor convinced me to show up. It was a Saturday evening race as part of a food and wine weekend festival.

It was a small women’s field but the course was great, as was the extremely generous prize money. I attacked on the 3rd lap and was soon joined by Lisa Jacobs (CCCC). Lisa had raced the Mt Buller hill climb in the morning which certainly would have taken the edge off. I had spend a few hours riding on the track that morning with our junior athletes, who are preparing for Junior Track Nationals.

The two intermediate sprints were hotly contested by Lisa and I, with me taking out the first in a photo finish and Lisa taking the second one. In the final lap, I forced Lisa to the front and then surprised her by starting my sprint early then she thought, and taking the win. Clare Dallat (CCCC) rode well to finish 3rd.

Lisa told me after the race, she is heading to Europe later in the year with the AIS crew to ride for a few months, including the women’s Giro. I warned her against drinking Italian water which unfortunately made me ‘extremely light’ when I raced the Giro.

By the way, I thought the presentations afterwards were somewhat amusing, as they used hay bales for the podium – definitely country style.

Enjoy the last month of daylight savings and the great autumn weather,